 "Rishabh Pant had scored 255 runs including one half-century in the five-match Test series against Australia besides effecting 25 dismissals behind the stumps. AP")
Indian cricketers appear to be domestic cricket more seriously after the team’s disastrous performances in Tests in the last three months. With India suffering a whitewash against New Zealand at home before surrendering the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia with a 3-1 series defeat , senior players are starting to consider regaining their form of polishing their red-ball skills in the Ranji Trophy, which returns to action a little over a week from now.
The latest of those cricketers are star batter Virat Kohli and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who have been named among Delhi’s probables for the remainder of the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy. Also included among the probables is pacer Harshit Rana, who made his Test debut during the tour of Australia recently . While Kohli’s participation in India’s premier First-Class competition for the first time in over a decade remains doubtful, Pant has confirmed his availability for Delhi’s upcoming fixture against Saurashtra in Rajkot.
Pant’s availability was confirmed by Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) secretary Ashok Sharma on Tuesday. The 27-year-old’s last appearance in the elite competition was in the 2017-18 season, while former India captain Kohli has not played domestic cricket Delhi’s Ranji fixture against Uttar Pradesh in 2012.
“Yes Pant has confirmed his availability for next Ranji game and will join the squad in Rajkot directly. About Virat Kohli we want him to play but we haven’t heard from him while Harshit Rana is selected in the T20 squad and hence is unavailable,” Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) secretary Ashok Sharma told PTI.
Besides Pant, top-order batters Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal are also expected to play the upcoming Ranji fixtures for Punjab and defending champions Mumbai respectively. Gill and Jaiswal have been rested for the five-match T20I series against England that takes place between 22 January and 2 February, with the selectors preferring the in-form Sanju Samson over Pant as the keeper-batter for the shortest format.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe next rounds in the Ranji Trophy, meanwhile, take begin on 23 January and 30 January respectively, with the quarter-finals set to follow.
Rohit Sharma had begun training with the Mumbai squad at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday. However, like Kohli, the India Test and ODI captain is yet to confirm his availability for Mumbai’s upcoming fixtures – against Jammu and Kashmir and Meghalaya respectively.